FRONTLINE: United States Of Secrets

Airs Tuesdays, May 13 & 20, 2014 at 10 p.m. on KPBSTV

Credit: Courtesy of FRONTLINE

Above: How did the government come to spy on millions of Americans? In FRONTLINE’s “United States of Secrets,” a two-part series from Michael Kirk and Martin Smith, FRONTLINE tells the inside story of the U.S. government’s massive and controversial post-9/11 secret surveillance program.

In part one, a two-hour film premiering Tuesday, May 13 at10 p.m., Kirk goes inside Washington and the National Security Agency, piecing together the secret history of the unprecedented surveillance program that began in the wake of September 11 and continues today – even after the revelations of its existence by Edward Snowden.

“Through in-depth interviews with more than 60 whistleblowers, elected officials, journalists, intelligence insiders and cabinet officials, we have woven together the secret narrative that reveals the scale and scope of the government’s spying program,” says Kirk. “We’ve gone deep inside the story, from what really happened at the NSA and the White House in the days after 9/11, through the Bush and Obama administrations, directly into the stunning revelations from Edward Snowden.”

With extraordinary access to key participants, the series exposes what came to be known as the “The Program”: a massive domestic surveillance dragnet designed to disrupt terrorist attacks before they occurred by collecting the communications of American citizens. From the start, “The Program” sparked outrage inside the NSA and Justice Department, and has since been attacked as unconstitutional and illegal.

Insiders like congressional intelligence committee staffer Diane Roark took their concerns directly to leaders in Washington and NSA Director Michael Hayden: “I said it was unethical, immoral, politically stupid, illegal and unconstitutional, and should stop — and when this comes out, all hell is going to break loose,” Roark tells FRONTLINE.

As FRONTLINE reports, for Roark and others who objected and spoke out, the consequences were devastating both personally and professionally. Many found themselves under criminal investigation: their security clearances revoked, their homes raided by armed federal agents, and their lives destroyed.

In part two of the series, producer Martin Smith investigates the ways Silicon Valley has played a role in the NSA’s dragnet, and blurred the boundaries of privacy for us all.

“As big technology companies encouraged users to share more and more information about their lives, they created a trove of data that could be useful not simply to advertisers—but also to the government,”Smith says. “Privacy advocates have been worried about this since the early days of the Internet, and the Snowden revelations about the scope of government spying brought their fears into high relief.”

How did big tech companies react when the government asked them to turn over data on millions of ordinary American citizens? And what do companies like Google, Facebook and Yahoo! really know about you?

“If the FBI came to your door and demanded photos of your wedding, the names and daily habits of your children, the restaurants you frequent, who you’ve called and texted for the past month, and where you’ll be staying on your upcoming vacation, you’d call your lawyer,”Smith says. “But that’s exactly the sort of information we’re all sharing by living our lives digitally — and the government has taken notice in a big way.”

Part political thriller and part spy novel, "United States Of Secrets" series is the definitive history of domestic surveillance in a post-9/11 world, from the investigative team behind FRONTLINE’s award-winning "Money, Power & Wall Street." With new revelations about government spying coming out almost daily, the series will be gripping viewing for those who want to understand the context of the Snowden affair—and what it means for all Americans.

In tandem with the broadcasts, FRONTLINE will publish the latest installment of "The FRONTLINE Interviews" — an online collection of revelatory, extended video interviews with the intelligence insiders, cabinet officials and government whistle-blowers featured in the film.

“United States of Secrets” - Trailer

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How did the government come to spy on millions of Americans? In FRONTLINE’s “United States of Secrets,” a two-part series from Michael Kirk and Martin Smith premiering May 13 and 20, FRONTLINE tells the inside story of the U.S. government’s massive and controversial secret surveillance program—and the lengths they went to trying to keep it hidden from the public. From the days following 9/11, to t

The Morning After

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On the morning of Sept. 12, 2001, a brand new reality was forming at the NSA. No longer would surveillance be limited to foreign targets. Instead, the agency would begin monitoring virtually all communications data flowing through the U.S. -- without a warrant and without the privacy protections that insiders once fought for.

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Your Destination is Hong Kong

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Above: The biggest leak of government secrets ever began in December 2012 with a single e-mail delivered to reporter Glenn Greenwald from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

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9/11 at the NSA: "We Had Missed the Entire Event"

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Above: "It was an enormous shock that you have this huge agency set up to prevent a surprise attack and they learned about it on a $300 television set tuned to CNN in the director’s office," James Bamford tells FRONTLINE in this excerpt from "United States of Secrets" (Part 1), premiering May 13 on PBS and at pbs.org/frontline.

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A Top-Secret Beginning

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Don't worry everyone, the big government is here to protect you. Turn in your weapons, let us manage your housing, healthcare, and retirement. We will even force private companies to pay you a "living wage". Don't mind the mass-surveillance, it is to keep you safe from scary bad guys.